Singapore reveals foiled Al-Qaida plot to level U.S. embassies

SINGAPORE (AP)  Singapore released details Friday of what it said was an elaborate plot by al-Qaida terrorists to blow up Western embassies, U.S. naval vessels and a bus carrying American soldiers.

The government also made public a videotape it said was found in an al-Qaida leader's house in which a man now in custody described how explosives could be carried on a bicycle without arousing suspicion. Other evidence included handwritten Arabic-language notes, also found in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in Washington that the threat to Americans had been "specific" and that suspects arrested by Singapore over the past month would be interrogated and, if appropriate, charged.

He also praised the Singapore government, saying it had "acted with dispatch."

It was the first time a government has revealed that evidence found in Afghanistan has been used to thwart terrorism. Singapore said the targets of the elaborate plot included a shuttle bus carrying American soldiers, the offices of U.S. companies, Western embassies and U.S. ships.

The disclosures Friday came just days after Singapore announced the December arrests of 15 suspected Islamic militants who the government said were involved in an attack plan in the Southeast Asian city-state.

The arrests and alleged plots have shocked Singapore, a small island of 4 million people.

Thirteen of the suspects remain in custody and two have been freed, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said Friday.

It said the 13 will be held for two years under the Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial for anyone deemed a national security threat.

The videotape released by the government shows a man now in custody narrating as the camera zooms in on alleged terror targets in Singapore.

"These are the same type of boxes which we intend to use," says the suspect, Hashim bin Abas, as video footage shows boxes resting on top of bicycles  an apparent reference to plans to hide explosives.

"It will not be suspicious to have a motorcycle or bicycle there," says bin Abas in the snowy video shown Friday evening on Singapore television.

Those detained are also believed to have been planning attacks on the British High Commission, the Israeli Embassy and the Australian High Commission, the ministry said.

The government said the 13 are members of a clandestine organization called Jamaah Islamiyah, or Islamic Group, and that eight of them had received training in Afghanistan from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. Bin Laden is the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on Washington and New York.

The Singapore government said the suspects had planned to blow up a shuttle bus ferrying U.S. military personnel between a naval base and a subway station  in addition to U.S. naval vessels in the waters northeast of Singapore.

The videotape and handwritten notes, which detailed plans to attack Americans in Singapore, were "found in the rubble of an al-Qaida leader's house in Afghanistan," the ministry said.

Also found "was a list of over 200 U.S. companies in Singapore," it said.

"Three of them were highlighted as potential targets apparently because the office-bearers were regarded as fairly prominent members of the American community in Singapore," the statement added.